Nulagine 

The large cabbage palms were planted late in the 1800's by traveling prospectors.

 We came here in December and stayed here at the Garden Pool picnic area.  We did not set up a tent.

You should never ever camp in a dry river bed.  We were here at the Nullagine river and it was completely dry but when we returned from Marble Bar later that night the river was flowing and we had to drive over the flooded concrete bridge that connects the town to Marble Bar Rd.

Here are some of the plants seen around Nullagine.  As we have just returned we have not been able to identify these plants yet.

The spinifex was large and green.  And yes it hurts when you poke your foot with the end of a piece of spinnifex.  And I don't recomend that you drive over spinnifex on the road either.

Some of these plants have fine hairs and thorns.

This small bush had several dark green ants on it.

Termites made their home around this living bush.

This spiky plant furiously protects itself from being eaten or stood on.

At night we were amazed at how many insects came around the car headlights and torches.  The torch was so covered in insects I couldn't find the button.  There were large moths, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, and flying reproductive ants.

Go here to see a video of these insects

Go Here to see a short video of antlion larvae digging their pits under the picnic table at Nullagine.

Go to our Creepy Crawlies pages and see many beetles of Western Australia.

This was a large moth as wide as my hand.  Go to our creepy crawlies pages and see many moths and butterflies in Western Australia.

Come back soon to our Creepy Crawlies Pages and see a new page on crickets and grasshoppers in Western Australia.

There were many grasshoppers in the Pilbara region due to the food supply of the spinifex and the recent arrival of water.  Then the grasshoppers become a meal for many other semi-arid creatures.

Go to our Creepy Crawlies pages and see our new Western Australian Spider pages. 

See how well this spider blended in.  Once it saw I was interested in it, it lay out flat to try and hide.

Staying next to the river we heard many different birds.  Regrettably I wasn't able to photograph many as it is very time consuming.  We heard Pink and Grey Galahs, crows, Kookaburras (probably blue winged kookaburras), Miners, Mudlarks, Corella's, Rainbow Bee-eaters, Black Swans, Blue Sacrid Kingfisher, Corellas and birds that made a "pang" sound.

The first afternoon we were here these dark gloomy clouds came over around 4pm.  We hurriedly packed away everything in great anticipation of a thunderstorm or worse. But what we got was a fantastic lightning show better than any fireworks that lasted into the night with no rain.  We didn't pack up quite so quickly the next afternoon when the same dark clouds loomed over us again.

The few days we were here it was only around 38 degrees and there is plenty of shade from the river gums lining the river.  The nights weren't hot either as the clouds coming in over the afternoon helped to drop the temperature.

Some of the rocks were schist and gemstones are still found in this area.

Cows were grazing in this area along the river.  We did not see any kangaroo's in the early evening but there was roo-poo on the ground.  In the evening we saw a few bats using our headlights to catch the insects.

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 All photos Copyright © Rachel Martinovich 2003 unless otherwise mentioned. Contact us Wildlife Education Services 
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